Five Belles Too Many is the fifth book in the Kensington’s Sarah Blair mystery series (2022)
By Debra H. Goldstein
From Heather’s remarks last night, it didn’t shock Sarah that Heather not only ignored Sam’s request, but was fidgeting with her cell phone. Sarah rechecked the mental note she’d made to find out what it was that Heather had against Alan. Barbie and Rose also were obviously not complying. Sarah added them to her mental checklist.
Running the list through her mind, Sarah tried to think if anyone besides Heather had expressed negative feelings for Alan or if she had seen any of them interact with him in a way that might provide a motivation for murder.
Rose had experienced that séance-like episode where she kept repeating “evil” and almost fainted, but Sarah wasn’t sure if her reference was to Alan as a person or to the murder itself. Barbie hadn’t said anything negative about Alan, but she definitely wasn’t thrilled when he stopped her from following Starr into the big dining room on the day intros were taped. It might have thwarted Barbie at that moment, but not being able to fix her daughter’s makeup didn’t seem like enough of a reason to murder someone.
In some ways, Jane had the best motive for having killed him because he reneged on part of what she viewed their deal to be. Still, Sarah couldn’t believe it. Jane was a schemer, and a lot of other things, but from the few times Jane’s façade had cracked in front of Sarah, she didn’t think Jane had the coldhearted ability to murder anyone. The killer had to be someone else. But who?
Debra Goldstein is a judge, author, litigator, wife, step-mom, mother of twins, and civic volunteer. Her writings are equally diverse. She is the author of Kensington Press’ Sarah Blair mystery series. Sarah, like Debra, is a cook of convenience who might be scorched if she gets too close to a kitchen. One Taste Too Many, the first book in the series was published in January 2019. The second book, Two Bites Too Many, was released in October 2019. The third book, Three Treats Too Many, came out in August 2020. She recently inked the deal for books four and five, which will appear in 2021 and 2022. Visit her website at: http://debragoldstein.com.